Former Washington State University President Dr. Samuel H. Smith and WSU first lady Patricia W. Smith have long believed that art belongs to everyone. That belief has guided decades of leadership and philanthropy at WSU — and it continues today, through the newly reopened Patricia W. and Samuel H. Smith Collection Classroom at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art WSU (JSMA).
Timed with the museum’s 50th anniversary, the classroom’s reopening honors not just a space, but a visionary legacy. As president and first lady of WSU from 1985 to 2000, the Smiths were instrumental in shaping what the university — and its cultural life — would become. More than two decades after their time in Pullman, they remain deeply invested in WSU’s future.
The unique classroom will allow students to meet and explore significant works in the museum’s collection while being joined on Zoom by curators and historians from anywhere in the world.
In 2022, they made a naming gift to establish the Smith Collection Classroom, a state-of-the-art space designed within the Collection Study Center (CSC) to bridge traditional art study with new technologies. This unique classroom will allow students to meet and explore significant works in the museum’s collection, including pieces ranging from photos by Andy Warhol to paintings by European and American impressionists, while being joined on Zoom by curators and historians from anywhere in the world. Classroom connectivity allows the CSC to reach the entire WSU system, including the WSU Global Campus, while dedicated computers expand collection access, allow for object comparison, and improve staff workflow.
After water damage delayed the classroom’s original opening, the Smiths remained committed. They supported repairs, ensuring the space could fulfill its promise: to bridge traditional art study with 21st-century technology, reaching every corner of the WSU system.
To find out more about the Smith Collection Classroom reopening, read the full story on the WSU Foundation website.
